Work is fun when you are actually leaning into your strengths and are deeply engaged and energized by what you’re doing.

The problem here is not just the options we had and didn’t pursue (the options we “keep open”)—it’s that mountain of options we never even had time to check out.

Activities. What were you actually doing? Was this a structured or an unstructured activity? Did you have a specific role to play (team leader) or were you just a participant (at the meeting)? Environments. Our environment has a profound effect on our emotional state. You feel one way at a football stadium, another in a cathedral. Notice where you

A well-designed life is a life that is generative—it is constantly creative, productive, changing, evolving, and there is always the possibility of surprise.

We recognize that there are two variations of gravity problems—totally inactionable ones (such as gravity itself) and functionally unactionable ones (such as the average income of a full-time poet).

As we suggested, it’s crucial for you to assess how well your work fits your values and priorities—how coherent your work is with who you are and what you believe.

Many people operate under the dysfunctional

Deciding which problems to work on may be one of the most important decisions you make, because people can lose years (or a lifetime) working on the wrong problem.

They have to learn the mind-sets of a designer—especially radical collaboration and being mindful of process.